Welcome to the AC Tropical Fish aquarium forum. Our aquarium forum is the place to discuss any aquarium related issue in a friendly environment. Our aquarium forum welcomes aquarists of all levels from beginners to experts. Please ask a question in the how to section of our forum or read the FAQ section if you have any questions. register to and become a part of our friendly aquarium forum community today.

Gravel dust and bubbles.

0

I did a bit of a search but didn't find much.

As per my only other post, tank is brand new, no fish, not started cycling yet. Filled it yesterday afternoon.

Basically I screwed up slightly and apparently didn't rinse/wash the gravel very well and it produced a fair amount of cloudy dust. I was hoping this would settle/filter out and it is, slowly. However the dust creates nucleation points for air bubbles and has caused several of my plastic plants to float to the surface.

I will need to clean the inside of the tank as some dust has settled on the glass which is unsightly and it's covered in bubbles.

I'm assuming that if I leave it the filter will clean a lot of it out and I can wash the filter pads before starting cycling?

Other than that a large water change and wait some more?

Can I assume as this is just silicate gravel dust that it won't be a major toxic issue?

Nevermind. I decided it was probably a better plan to remove most of the water, wash the gravel in the remaining by aggitating it and continually cycle water through it until the 4 inches of water remaining at the bottom was clearing up. Refilled and retreated it and while I still have bubbles and understand they are normal, it is MUCH clearer now.

Going to go to the local aquarium place to see if I can get some ammonia.

some level of cloudiness is to be expected depending on the size of the tank it may take days to fully clear up, my 5ft tank took about a week even with water changes and washing the gravel completely. It will happen just be patient. cycling during this clearing up time is a good idea to. Goodluck